VFS Global is the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions…reports Asian Lite News
Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh launched a new global gateway for the state with the inauguration of the first VFS Global Joint Visa Application Centre (JVAC) and the VFS Global Academy in Lucknow on 04, February 2023.
VFS Global is the world’s largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions.
This spacious and comfortable facility equipped with modern amenities and services will have the capacity of processing approximately 1.2 lakh applications a year and will be of immense benefit to the citizens of Uttar Pradesh, who till now had to travel to other cities like New Delhi to submit their visa applications.
VFS Global is now in Lucknow, India! Join us live for the launch of our Joint Visa Application Centre, inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Yogi Adityanath in the presence of Zubin Karkaria, Founder & CEO of VFS Global: https://t.co/Qgcx1Jtf1x
Spread across 24,000 sq.ft, the JVAC would cater to travellers bound to Austria, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic, Switzerland, Estonia, Hungary, Portugal, Germany, Italy and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Located strategically on the 1st floor of the Interstate Bus Terminal, Alambagh (Shalimar Gateway Mall), the centre provides unparalleled accessibility to travellers using the inter-state bus service from the remote parts of Uttar Pradesh. It is also a short drive away from the Lucknow railway station, airport and a walk away from the Alambaug metro station.
With 11 submission counters and three biometric enrollment stations, the JVAC is equipped to manage the travel demand seamlessly. For discerning set of applicants seeking enhanced submission experience services, the facility has premium optional services such as Premium Lounges that enables application submission without having to wait in a queue. Form-filling assistance, Courier Passback, Courier Insurance, Travel Medical Insurance and SMS Notification are some of the other optional services to be available at the centre.
In addition to easing visa accessibility, VFS Global will open an academy in partnership Indian Hotels Company Ltd. (IHCL), to train local youth in world-class hospitality skills and enable employability in line with the UP-government’s skilling programme.
“It is our great honour and pride to have the Honourable Chief Minister of UP, Shri Yogi Adityanath, inaugurate the Lucknow joint visa application centre. This centre is a testament of our commitment to the people of UP. Given the visionary governance demonstrated by Yogiji’s government, the state of UP has great potential to become a global investment hub. We have worked with the Ministry of External Affairs Government of India, for nearly 15 years supporting inbound tourism to India as well as aiding overseas travel for millions from the country. The new Lucknow VAC would augment our commitment by significantly easing visa accessibility, empowering local youth through skilling and job creation and contribute towards making UP shine on the global map,” said Zubin Karkaria, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, VFS Global.
Gadkari’s exclusion from the Parliamentary Board is particularly significant as he is a former president of the party, and the other two former presidents —Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh continue to be members. The exclusion of Gadkari follows after another former president, LK Advani was dropped from the Board
In a move that is likely to give Union Home Minister Amit Shah greater role in the BJP and in governance, the party’s president JP Nadda on August 17 effected a major organisational rejig of the Parliamentary Board, the highest decision making authority in the party, and the Central Election Committee (CEC) that goes into candidate selections, a rejig that is significant more for the exclusions than inclusions.
The Parliamentary Board, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is also a member, former BJP president and Roads and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has been dropped as has Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Gadkari’s exclusion is particularly significant as he is a former president of the party, and the other two former presidents — Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh continue to be members. The exclusion of Gadkari follows after another former president, L.K. Advani was dropped from the Board.
The Board in its previous form had five vacancies due to the passing away of senior leaders Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, and Ananth Kumar and the election of Venkaiah Naidu as Vice-President of India and Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot being appointed to that post.
In the 11-member Board, not constituted since 2014, when Home Minister Amit Shah was party president, Nadda, Prime Minister Modi, Shah, Rajnath Singh and general seceretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh continue as before.
In the vacancies thus filled, interestingly, the inclusions are former Chief Minister of Karnataka B.S. Yediyurappa, whose inclusion acknowledges the fact that he is unlikely to fade into the political sunset anytime soon and is still a force to reckon with in State politics. Mr. Yeddyurappa has also been made member of the CEC.
Former Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has also been appointed to the Parliamentary Board, party sources saying in a bid to diversify the membership, as he belongs to a tribal community from Assam. The chief of the party’s OBC Morcha and Rajya Sabha MP K. Laxman who belongs to Telangana is another significant inclusion.
For the first ever in the party’s recent history, a Sikh member, Iqbal Singh Lalpura has been appointed to the Board, a nod to the protest movement against the farm laws (which the Union Government repealed) and the political exigencies in Punjab. Other inclusions are former MP from Mahendragarh in Haryana, Sudha Yadav. Her husband, Deputy Commandant Sukhbir Singh Yadav, of the Border Security Force (BSF), had died fighting Pakistani intruders during the Kargil war. Satynarayana Jatiya, former MP and former Union Minister in the Vajpayee Government.
In the 15 member CEC, the surprise inclusion has been that of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis, an acknowledgement that he needed validation at the national level, in order to offset the disappointment felt by some quarters in Maharashtra BJP over him being overlooked as Chief Minister. BJP’s mahila morcha president, Tamil Nadu MLA Vanathi Srinivasan has also been made a member of the CEC. Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav and senior party leader Om Mathur are the other two members. Former Union Ministers Jual Oram and Shahnawaz Hussain have been dropped.
Rejig emphasises diversity, says BJP
“The new reconstituted Parliamentary Board shows how the party rewards old workers and values their experience. People like B.S. Yediyurappa, Satyanarayan Jatia, K. Laxman have given their lives to the party, building it brick by brick from the start. Their coming to the highest decision-making body shows how the party values its esteemed Karyakartas (workers),” BJP sources said.
Pointing towards the diversity of the newly constituted Parliamentary Board, BJP sources said: “There is an emphasis on diversity. Sarbananda Sonowal is from the Northeast, L. Laxman and B.S. Yeddyurappa hail from South. In Iqbal Singh Lalpura there is a Sikh.”
“Sudha Yadav is a self-made political leader whose husband was martyred in Kargil. Her inclusion shows utmost respect to women and families of armed forces personnel. Representation from the South and Northeast is at an all-time high in the Parliamentary Board,” sources added.
Eleven members of the reconstituted Parliamentary Board includes BJP chief J. P. Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and Sarbananda Sonowal, former Karnataka Chief Minister Yediyurappa, OBC Morcha national president K. Laxman, Iqbal Singh Lalpura, Sudha Yadav, Satyanarayan Jatia and national general secretary (organisation) B. L. Santhosh.
The 15-member Central Election Committee includes the 11 members of the Parliamentary Board and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, Om Mathur and national president of party women wing Vanathi Srinivasan. Senior leaders Shahnawaz Hussain and Jual Oram were dropped from the CEC.
The new ministry sworn in on Friday includes 52 ministers, including 18 in cabinet rank, and the government now has a new complexion….reports Asian Lite News
Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the 33rd chief minister of Uttar Pradesh on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers and a galaxy of chief ministers.
Adityanath was administered the oath of office by Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel at the Ekana stadium here, with over 75,000 people from different walks of life, cheering him on.
Two deputy chief ministers were also sworn in along with the chief minister. They include Keshav Maurya — who recently lost the election, and Brajesh Pathak.
Deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma in the previous government, has been dropped this time. Sources said that he would now be given an organisational post.
The new ministry sworn in on Friday includes 52 ministers, including 18 in cabinet rank, and the government now has a new complexion.
Five women ministers have been included. They are — Baby Rani Maurya, Gulab Devi, Pratibha Shukla, Rajni Tiwari and Vijay Laxmi Gautam.
Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Swatantra Dev Singh has been inducted into the ministry while some senior leaders including Shrikant Sharma, Siddhartha Nath Singh, Ashutosh Tandon, Mahendra Singh, Jai Pratap Singh, Satish Mahana and Mohsin Raza have been dropped.
A much-awaited inclusion was that of former IAS officer Arvind Sharma who had quit his job in the PMO last year and was made MLC in Uttar Pradesh.
Asheesh Patel of Apna Dal and Sanjay Nishad of Nishad Party have also found a berth in the council of ministers as cabinet ministers.
Daya Shankar Singh, husband of former minister Swati Singh, has also been made minister of state.
Former IPS officer Aseem Arun, who quit his job in January to join politics, has also been made minister.
However, former ED official Rajeshwar Singh, who won the election after quitting his job, has not been made minister.
Among the surprise omissions in the government formation are rebel Congress MLA Aditi Singh who had contested the elections on a BJP ticket from Rae Bareli.
Aparna Yadav, younger daughter-in-law of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was also tipped to become a minister, was not on the list.
The AAP’s broom swept away the ruling Congress in Punjab, which was saddled by incumbency and infighting. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) led alliance and BJP failed to dent the prospects of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party, reports Asian Lite News
The BJP’s lotus bloomed again in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand while AAP’s broom swept away opponents in Punjab as results for five states were declared on Thursday. The BJP also won in Manipur and emerged as the single-largest party in Goa.
In Uttar Pradesh, the saffron party-led alliance is close to winning 270 seats in the 403-member assembly. In Uttarakhand, it is leading in over 40 seats, comfortably above the majority mark of 36.
While the results are the same as in 2017, the “verdict” is slightly different. The BJP is winning UP but the margin is not as handsome as it was in 2017. It had won 312 seats alone in the state in the previous elections.
In Goa and Manipur, the BJP had won fewer seats in 2017 but managed to form the governments. This time, it is the single largest party but hasn’t been able to cross the majority mark yet.
AAP’s big win
The AAP’s broom swept away the ruling Congress in Punjab, which was saddled by incumbency and infighting. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) led alliance and BJP failed to dent the prospects of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party
Whether it’s a bigger victory for AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal or its Punjab CM candidate Bhagwant Mann, the jury will be out on that. But the clear mandate in Punjab is sure to stoke the party’s national ambitions, which it had been harbouring since getting its first taste of victory nearly 7 years ago. And while buoyant AAP supporters are busy celebrating Punjab’s victory, there is a somber silence in the Congress ranks.
Congress in a spot
The grand old party, which continues to lose its footprint in India, has lost another state. In Uttarakhand, it failed to take the fight to the BJP despite the saffron party changing its CM not once but twice.
In Manipur and Goa too, the Congress failed to topple the BJP.
And in UP, the party’s spirited women-centric campaign led by Priyanka Gandhi failed to impress the voters with its seat share depleting from 7 in 2017 to 1 in 2022, as per available trends.
Churn in opposition
The electoral landscape of India is more or less the same as it was before the results, save Punjab which has flipped from Congress to Aam Aadmi Party.
But the flip could have a far-reaching impact on national level politics as the vacuum to emerge as the national alternative to the BJP is yet to be filled by any opposition party.
With Punjab now in its kitty, the AAP is in power in two states. Interestingly, the Congress too has only two states to its name where it is in power on its own.
While AAP has firmed up its position as a potential national force in the future, it still has a long way to go. The AAP is in power in states which together make up 20 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress is in power in states that together send 36 members to the lower house.
The party understands this and is working to expand itself beyond Punjab and Delhi.
Setback for Mayawati
The party, which was once a major player in UP elections, has been reduced to just 5-odd seats this year with a vote share of over 12%. This is a direct depletion of over 10 percentage points compared to 2017.
In essence, Mayawati’s BSP has been reduced to a party that cuts into the votes of SP candidates. SP scores big but fails to trouble BJP Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav could take heart from today’s result as he managed to pull his party from a dismal show in 2017 to a fighting performance in 2022.
The SP won 126 seats while its allies are leading in 14. This is nearly thrice the number of seats Akhilesh had won in 2017 when he contested in alliance with Congress. The party also managed to boost its vote share by nearly 10 percentage points to 31% – its highest ever in the state.
Unfortunately for Akhilesh, the performance wasn’t good enough to topple the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government. The result, however, could set the stage for SP to emerge as a solid alternative force in the state.
In the previous elections, SP’s decision to contest with Congress (2017 assembly) and BSP (2019 Lok Sabha) had failed to impress the voters.
Yogi breaks 37-year jinx
Besides AAP, UP chief minister is another big winner of the 2022 elections. In 2017, the BJP had contested the elections without declaring a chief ministerial candidate. In 2022, Yogi was the
clear-cut choice and the face of BJP’s campaign.
Leading the BJP to a historic victory in UP will come as a shot in the arm for Yogi, who is considered as one of the most popular faces in the BJP’s ranks.
BJP creates history in Uttarakhand
The saffron party has also managed to create history by winning a consecutive term in a state which alternates between Congress and BJP. Power has changed hands every five years since the formation of the hill state in 2001.
The results are a big thumbs up to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who had assumed power just seven months before the elections. Moreover, the constant infighting in BJP’s Uttarakhand unit and two changes did not have a big impact on the poll results either.
Advantage BJP in 2024?
Coming just two years ahead of Lok Sabha elections, today’s results augur well for the BJP. Uttar Pradesh is the top bellwether state in India vis-à-vis national polls and another big victory in the state bodes well for the BJP, which is eyeing a third straight term in Lok Sabha.
The state sends the maximum number of MPs to Parliament at 80.
“Forget 2019 and start planning (and) hoping for 2024,” National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had tweeted this in 2017 when the BJP stormed to power.
Now, with another victory under its belt in the numerically crucial state, the BJP will find itself on a strong footing as it gears up for the national poll,
Brand Modi bankable
As always, the BJP reaped rich dividends in UP and Uttarakhand by banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity and national appeal.
Besides Yogi, the Prime Minister led BJP’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh and addressed as many as 28 rallies in the seven-phase elections. This was more than the number of rallies he had addressed in 2017.
According to that official, Ramakrishna who was then in her early 20s was always career or business focussed and would not talk about anything else…reports Venkatachari Jagannathan
It is beyond comprehension that Chitra Ramakrishna, was led by a ‘Marma’ Yogi or mysterious sage, said a former IDBI Bank employee who had worked with her in the mid 1980s.
Ramakrishna was the former Managing Director and CEO of National Stock Exchange (NSE) who is now under the scanner of various investigating agencies for her official commissions and omissions.
According to him, IDBI had the policy of hiring top rankers — Chartered Accountants/ Management Graduates — then and Ramakrishna was one of the toppers and was recruited in 1985.
“Even at the stage she showed leadership qualities. She was intelligent, outspoken and also pushy. She was always at the front,” her former colleague recalled.
According to that official, Ramakrishna who was then in her early 20s was always career or business focussed and would not talk about anything else.
“She was a lone ranger then. She used to have her lunch alone,” the former IDBI employee mused.
Another former banker told that Ramakrishna was the granddaughter of a school Head Master and daughter of a professional accountant. Her mother hailed from Chennai and after marriage went to Mumbai.
Queried about bachelor bankers going behind the young, intelligent and good looking Ramakrishna, the former banker replied: “It was not so. Perhaps young colleagues were sort of intimidated by her attributes and didn’t nurture any romantic ideas.”
“She too did not show any such romantic inclinations towards any of the most eligible bachelors in IDBI,” the former IDBI official added. But cupid seems to have struck her as she married a visually challenged colleague — Ramakrishna. However, the two got separated, two former bankers told.
When the late IDBI Chairman S.S. Nadkarni asked for volunteers to set up the NSE, Ramakrishna was one of the persons who came forward to take the challenge.
“As far as I recall, Chitra was not a greedy person. It is still a wonder why she got involved in all the murky happenings at NSE that are coming out in the open. She could have simply said no to the powers that be and quit,” her former colleague said.
The former bankers were of the view that she did the bidding of a powerful person on the assurance that nothing would happen to her and if at all anything adverse crops up against her, she would be protected.
“It is beyond our comprehension that Chitra would be led by a mysterious yogi. She was not like that. And who is this ‘Marma’ Yogi is the major question that needs to be answered,” her former colleague said.
He then went on to accuse the Delhi Chief Minister of “cutting electricity and water” for migrant labourers and forcing them to leave the city…reports Asian Lite News
The war of words between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal has intensified with the two leaders sharpening their claws on Twitter.
While Kejriwal said that his Uttar Pradesh counterpart was a “harsh and cruel ruler”, Yogi called the Delhi Chief Minister a “liar”.
The Twitter war on Monday night started after Kejriwal’s rebuttal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in Parliament that Delhi and Maharashtra contributed to the spread of Covid by enabling the migrant labourers to go home after the lockdown was declared in 2020.
“This statement of Prime Minister is a blatant lie. The country hopes that the Prime Minister will be sensitive to those who have suffered the pain in the Corona period, those who have lost their loved ones. It does not suit the Prime Minister to do politics on the sufferings of the people,” the Delhi Chief Minister said in a tweet in Hindi.
His Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also tweeted to say the Prime Minister’s statement was “false”.
Responding to the claim, Yogi said: “Today’s statement of Arvind Kejriwal about respected Prime Minister is highly condemnable. Arvind Kejriwal should apologise to the entire nation.”
He quoted a couplet from Goswami Tulsidas, the author of “Ram Charitmanas”, to elucidate his point.
“Kejriwal has a knack of telling lies. When the whole country was battling a global pandemic like Corona under the leadership of the respected Prime Minister, Kejriwal showed the migrant labourers the way out of Delhi.”
He then went on to accuse the Delhi Chief Minister of “cutting electricity and water” for migrant labourers and forcing them to leave the city.
“The electricity-water connection was cut and the sleeping people were picked up and sent to the UP border by buses. Announcement was made that in Anand Vihar, buses will be available for UP-Bihar. The UP government arranged buses for the migrant labourers and brought them back safely,” Yogi further tweeted.
In a direct post, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said: “Listen Kejriwal, You forced the workers of UP to leave Delhi when the entire humanity was groaning due to the pain of Corona. Your government did an undemocratic and inhuman act like leaving even small children and women helpless on the UP border in the middle of the night. Call you a traitor or…”
Kejriwal reacted with: “You should not say anything. When bodies were floating in the rivers, you were spending crores on appreciating yourself through advertisements in Time magazine. Have not seen a harsh and cruel ruler like you.”
No sooner did Yogi Adityanath said this, pat came the reply from former Chief Minister Mayawati. In a series of tweets, the BSP supremo targeted Yogi Adityanath and the BJP fiercely…reports Asian Lite News
Targeting opposition parties ahead of the first phase of polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday accused his predecessors of building bungalows for themselves first after coming to power. Hitting back, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati who said that the mutt of Gorakhpur, where Adityanath resides, is also no less than a big bungalow.
Campaigning in Ghaziabad, Adityanath, in a voter dialogue programme, targeted the SP and Akhilesh Yadav, saying that when the SP government was formed, the Chief Minister and ministers built their own bungalows first, but under the BJP government, he and his ministers did not build their own residences, but provided house to 43 lakh poor people of the state. He claimed that the BJP government also provided toilets to 2 crore 61 lakh people in the state.
No sooner did Yogi Adityanath said this, pat came the reply from former Chief Minister Mayawati. In a series of tweets, the BSP supremo targeted Yogi Adityanath and the BJP fiercely.
Mayawati tweeted: “Perhaps the people of western UP do not know that the mutt built by Yogi ji in Gorakhpur, where he resides for most of the time, is no less than a big bungalow. It would have been better if he had told this to voters as well.”
Describing the achievements of the BSP government, Mayawati said in her next tweet: “Also, it would have been better if the UP CM, along with the praise of his government, also mentioned the works related to the public interest by the BSP government. They should know that the BSP government’s track record in giving houses to the poor and land to the landless has been excellent.”
In her third tweet, Mayawati, claiming to have provided houses to the poor during her tenure, said, “Under Manyavar Shri Kanshi Ram Ji Shahari Garib Awas Yojana, more than one and a half lakh pucca houses were given in just two phases. Many families were benefited under the Garib Awas Ownership Scheme. Lakhs of landless families were also given land.”
The BJP is constantly targeting the Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh Yadav as the campaigning for the first phase intensifies. In the battle between BJP and the SP, the BSP and Mayawati are still lagging behind. But in the last few days, Mayawati has been continuously targeting her opponents and claiming to remain in the race.
With Yogi Adityanath becoming the chief minister in 2017, the Thakur community has been overjoyed at what they call, ‘our share in power’…writes Amita Verma
After almost three decades, Thakurs in Uttar Pradesh have experienced caste pride with Yogi Adityanath taking over the reins of the BJP government.
The fact that Yogi Adityanath is also the head of Goraksh Peeth, which is a Kshatriya Peeth, has an added advantage.
Thakurs in Uttar Pradesh, despite being a powerful community that wields influence in urban and rural areas, has failed to find its voice in the corridors of power after the end of the Veer Bahadur Singh regime in 1988.
Though Rajnath Singh was the chief minister in 2000-2002 but he deliberately downplayed the caste angle in his tenure.
Thakurs constitute only 8 per cent of the state’s population but actually own around 50 per cent of the land. They are known to wear their identity on their sleeves.
With Yogi Adityanath becoming the chief minister in 2017, the Thakur community has been overjoyed at what they call, ‘our share in power’.
There is no denying the fact that officers belonging to the Thakur community have been given good postings even though it is Brahmins who continue to hold high posts like chief secretary.
The opposition has even accused the Yogi government of going overboard in protecting Thakur interests and shielding Thakur criminals but the chief minister remains unapologetic about it.
Yogi Adityanath, who is respectfully addressed as “Maharaj’ by most Thakurs, is seen as a custodian of Thakur rights.
“Thakurs have not got anything substantial in the BJP but our sense of self-respect and pride has been protected and that is what matters most. As for an increased representation in the government, this is only natural because the number of Thakur officers is higher compared to other castes and they have not been inducted in the Yogi regime,” said Thakur MLA of the BJP.
The MLA further said, “In any case, Thakurs have nowhere else to go except the BJP. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party is keener on getting Brahmins into their fold and the Congress is preoccupied with its women campaign.”
Moreover, Akhilesh Yadav has managed to ruffle Thakur feathers and injure their pride when he made an uncalled-for remark during one of his election meetings in Pratapgarh.
Pratapgarh is the home of independent MLA and former minister Raghuraj Pratap Singh a.k.a. Raja Bhaiyya, who is now one of the tallest Thakur leaders in Uttar Pradesh. He has a royal lineage which adds to his stature and in state politics, he is known as an influencer who can make and break governments.
In Pratapgarh, Akhilesh was asked if he would ally with Raja Bhaiyya’s new party, Jansatta Dal, and the SP president responded with “Kaun Raja Bhaiyya?”
The remark evoked a sharp reaction among Thakurs-especially, since it was Raja Bhaiyya who had helped Mulayam Singh cobble up a majority by splitting the BSP and form government in 2003.
“How can he insult our leader like this? No Thakur is now going to vote for SP. Raja Bhaiyya had shown the courtesy of going over and wishing Mulayam Singh at his residence in November but the SP president’s behaviour is socially and politically incorrect,” said Kunwar Pratap Singh, a resident of Pratapgarh.
That Akhilesh is also not keen on Thakurs is evident from the fact that Thakur leaders in his own party remain side-lined.
The BSP, too, is not seen as pro-Thakur — especially after Mayawati had booked two Thakurs — Raja Bhaiyya and Dhananjay Singh under POTA in 2002.
The Congress, on the other hand, has almost no Thakur leadership left in the party and the focus in these elections is on women.
In this situation the BJP is bound to get majority Thakur votes in these elections and with Yogi Adityanath leading the campaign, his community is completely rallying behind him.
The Bhim Army chief and his party have no base in Gorakhpur or even eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Gorakhpur Sadar assembly seat has been with the BJP continuously since 1989, except once when it was won by Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, reports Asian Lite News
The first candidate to be declared against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur is Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad.
The Dalit leader had said earlier he would contest against Yogi Adityanath in the February-March election. Today, his party formally announced it, days after the BJP declared that Yogi Adityanath would contest the UP election from Gorakhpur Sadar.
Yogi Adityanath is running for MLA for the first time. But his main rival will be the Samajwadi Party candidate, not announced yet.
This will also be Chandrashekhar Azad’s first election.
The 34-year-old had famously backtracked after announcing in 2019 that he would contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He later explained that since he had no party at the time, it was best to support Mayawati’s party and the Congress.
Now that he has one, he would take on Yogi Adityanath, he had said.
“It is not important for me to win a place in the UP assembly. It is important for me that Yogi Adityanath should not get to be in the assembly. So I will contest wherever he is contesting,” he had said last year.
The Bhim Army chief and his party have no base in Gorakhpur or even eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Gorakhpur Sadar assembly seat has been with the BJP continuously since 1989, except once when it was won by Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha. In 2017, the BJP’s Radha Mohan Das Agarwal won the seat back by a margin of over 60,000 votes.
Chandrashekhar Azad recently declared that his party would not tie up with the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav, after their seat share talks collapsed.
He declared that he felt cheated by the Samajwadi Party and that it had reneged on its promise to offer his party 25 seats to contest.
Akhilesh Yadav said he would try to ensure that two seats were set aside for Azad’s party but he was told the Bhim Army chief was no longer interested.
The Chandrashekhar Azad-led Bhim Army drew attention during the May 2017 clashes between Dalits and upper caste Thakurs in Saharanpur.
Chandrashekhar Azad was arrested after the clashes. Though he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested him under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). He was released in September 2018 after 16 months in jail.
On January 18, Azad who is a staunch BJP critic, said his political outfit – Azad Samaj Party – is open to stitching an alliance with others and maintained that his fight has always been with the ruling party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The seven-phases polling for the UP election will commence from February 10 and will continue till March 7. The Gorakhpur urban seat will go to vote in the sixth phase, on March 3.
Fearing polarisation on religious line, most political parties are also not talking about the Muslim factor, and the Muslims, themselves, prefer to remain low-key because they are aware that any ‘appeasement’ issue may actually prove detrimental to their interest, writes Amita Verma
Their silence, this time, is deafening and even unnerving. Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh remain tight-lipped even as the political cauldron boils over with vote bank politics.
Talk to any Muslim on the street and the reply about the political prospects is non-committal and even ambiguous.
Fearing polarisation on religious line, most political parties are also not talking about the Muslim factor, and the Muslims, themselves, prefer to remain low-key because they are aware that any ‘appeasement’ issue may actually prove detrimental to their interest.
When Yogi Adityanath took over the reins of power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, he ruptured the perception that Muslims could make or mar a government in the state. He chose a broader Hindu mobilisation to relegate Muslims to the wings.
He pursued policies that did not serve Muslims, including a ban on cow slaughter and curbs on use of loudspeakers for ‘azaan’, to name a few.
The ban on triple talaq has angered the men who feel it is an intrusion into Sharia laws. The women, though happy, feel that the law has not served its purpose.
“How can we take on men on this issue without having financial independence. If we are dependent on the family for ourselves and our children, we cannot go against them,” said Shaheen, a young graduate.
‘Attacks’ on Muslims on issues like transporting meat increased, anti-CAA protests and the law on love jihad opened a gateway for ‘harassment’ of Muslim youth (in inter-faith relationships).
In short, Yogi Adityanath put the 20 per cent Muslims on the ‘defensive’ and proved that power could be attained and retained without the minority community.
His recent remark on “80 per cent versus 20 per cent” proves this.
“Muslims have been made to feel like second class citizens in the Yogi regime. He has branded the entire community under one label-anti-national-and it is this that hurts us. We have never opposed if anyone is punished for doing wrong but you cannot term the entire community as a wrong doer. In the past five years, everyone seems to have turned into right-wing police and all you need to bash up Muslims without getting booked is a saffron ‘gamcha’,” said a senior faculty member from the Shia Degree College in Lucknow.
The huge following that Yogi Adityanath has built up among Hindus, cutting across caste lines, has also made non-BJP parties cautious on the Muslim issue.
“We know that the BJP is waiting for us to utter a word on Muslims and they will then go all out to polarise the election on religious lines,” said a Congress spokesman.
According to sources, parties, this time, will not take the risk of fielding too many Muslims for this reason.
Muslims’ representation in Uttar Pradesh has historically fluctuated. The rise of socialist parties in the 1970s and 1980s and the decline of the Congress saw the first post-Independence rise in Muslims’ representation in the Vidhan Sabha, from 6.6 per cent in 1967 to 12 per cent in 1985.
The first rise of the BJP in the state in the late 1980s brought this percentage down to 5.5 per cent in 1991.
The overall participation of Muslims in elections as candidates also decreased over the same period.
The second phase of growth in representation started after 1991 and culminated in 2012, when Muslim candidates won 17 per cent of the assembly seats, achieving near-demographic proportion for the first time. The carving of Uttarakhand in 2000 also contributed to raising the percentage of Muslim’s representation in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP’s emphatic victory in 2017 reversed this trend back to the 1991 level — 23 Muslims were elected, against 68 in the previous polls.
This reflects the marginalisation of the community in policy-making.
“It’s not only about numbers, the slide in the community’s representation also means almost no role for it in policy-making, which does not augur well for almost one-fifth of the state’s population,” said Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali, member, All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
As the election process begins, Muslims in Uttar Pradesh do not want to make any ‘mistake’ that will lead to a division in their votes.
How the community will ensure that their votes are not divided, appears unclear to them also at this stage.
“Defeating the BJP is a major factor though other factors also matter such as the candidate, the party, village-level dynamics and local rivalries,” said a senior cleric of Darul Uloom Deoband, adding that “had all Muslims voted for one strong party, the BJP would not have come to power in 2017”.
“The Yogi government has targeted Muslims like never before. From Azam Khan to Mukhtar Ansari, the government shown unmatched zeal in bringing them down. Others with similar offences were not even touched with a barge pole in this regime,” said a Muslim MLA who requested anonymity.
Mohd Azam Khan may have been an unpopular figure due to his brusque behaviour but the 86 plus cases slapped on him by the Yogi government and the two years he has spent in jail, have ensured sympathy for him in his community.
Similarly, the action taken against mafia don and politician Mukhtar Ansari, who has a Robinhood image in the community, has also upset Muslims.
“In these five years, the government has repeatedly flashed images of his properties being bulldozed. If he had illegally acquired his properties, the government should have waited for the court to decide. The government has worked as illegally as, perhaps, Mukhtar did. He is a five term MLA – having won three elections from behind the bars,” said Abdul Ikhlaq, a high court lawyer.
The Muslim community has been banking on tactical voting. Most political observers believe the community will wait till the last moment before voting for the strongest candidate to defeat the BJP. Tactical voting could become even more pronounced in this election.
The presence of Asaddudin Owaisi’s AIMIM in the Assembly elections, however, does not seem to be a major factor in swaying Muslim votes since the majority in the minority feels that Owaisi is not in a position to challenge the BJP yet.
There are 143 seats in Uttar Pradesh, where there is an impact of Muslim voters.
There are about 70 seats where the Muslim population is between 20 to 30 per cent and 43 seats where the Muslim population is more than 30 per cent.
There are 36 seats in UP where Muslim candidates can win on their own whereas there are 107 assembly seats where Muslim voters can decide victory or defeat.
Rampur, Farrukhabad and Bijnor are the areas where Muslim population is around 40 per cent. Apart from this, there are many such seats in western Uttar Pradesh, Rohilkhand and eastern Uttar Pradesh, where Muslim votes influence the election results.
At the same time, there are nine such seats in western Uttar Pradesh, where Muslim voters decide the fate of candidates by votes. In these nine seats, the number of Muslim voters is about 55 per cent.
These nine seats include Meerut Sadar, Rampur Sadar, Sambhal, Moradabad Rural and Kundarki, Amroha Nagar, Dhaulana, Behat of Saharanpur and Saharanpur Dehat.
Rampur has the highest 50.57 per cent Muslim population.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party won nearly half of the 57 Muslim-dominated seats in Uttar Pradesh during the 2012 Assembly elections.
In 2017, the BJP put up a dominating performance in constituencies with a sizeable Muslim population and clinched as many as 37 of these seats.
The Samajwadi Party’s share came down to just 17 while the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party failed to retain even a single seat in 2017.
